Kayla Fisher’s accomplishments in the classroom and in athleticsare exceptional. A 5-foot-4 Brookhaven senior, she scored a 30 onher ACT. A cheerleader on Ole Brook’s state championship squad, shewas a finalist for the Lindy Callahan Scholar-Athlete Award.

Eight boys and eight girls from across Mississippi, one eachfrom each district, were nominated for the award. This is the 11thyear the award has been presented by the Mississippi High SchoolActivities Association. Each nominee receives a $1,000scholarship.

She is the 17-year-old daughter of Rob and Nancy Fisher. Hermother, a former tennis star, graduated from BHS in 1978. Herfather is from Sebastopol where he played football, basketball andtrack.

Ole Brook’s cheerleaders were state champions two of the last 3years. They were runners-up to Grapevine, Texas in the nationalcompetition at Orlando, Fla. in January.

Fisher also is a member of Showstoppers dance team. She plans toattend Mississippi College and wants to major in business. She isreceiving an academic scholarship at MC.

“My favorite subject is math,” said Fisher. She also enjoysEnglish.

Asked about balancing academics and athletics, Fisher said, “Itry not to stay up too late, I try to manage my time effectively. Iget out of school at 11:30 (a.m.) and that gives me more time tostudy.”

Amy Spring and Jerralyn Seals sponsor the Ole Brookcheerleaders.

“It’s fun to be around all the girls,” said Fisher. “It givesyou a sense of accomplishment. Your start from nothing. You learnroutines from scratch. Also dance.”

Do cheerleaders need much athletic ability?

“It requires a lot of stamina,” answered Fisher. “You areexerting so much energy over a short period of time. The routineusually lasts about 10 minutes.”

Fisher and her teammates lift weights and run. “We ran themile.”

In the weight training room, Ole Brook baseball coach RandySpring devised a workout with light weights for the cheerleaders.It includes the squat, bench press and leg extensions.

“I like tumbling,” said Fisher. “It’s all fun because it’s alldifferent.

“It took me a long time to perfect tumbling,” added Fisher. “Istarted tumbling in the sixth grade. It took me about a year and ahalf to learn it.”

According to Fisher, practice makes perfect.

“You have to be confident when you are tumbling; you can’t bescared. You have to have good arm and leg strength when youflip.”

She may try cheerleading her sophomore year at MC after she isacclimated to college life.

“My mom wasn’t’ a cheerleader but she really supported me,” saidFisher. “She wanted me to play tennis. Our whole family playstennis.”

She has a 15-year-old sister, Abby. She also serves on the OleBrook cheer squad.

Duane Meilstrup, Mississippi Gym of Dreams owner and coach,serves as a gymnastics teacher for the Ole Brook squad.

“As a squad, we practice during the day,” said Fisher. “When thecompetitive season is going on, we always practice at night.”

Last January, after the Ole Brook athletic awards banquetconcluded at 9:15 p.m., the cheerleading squad headed for practiceat Gym of Dreams. They left that week for the national competitionin Orlando.

Meilstrup said Fisher has worked hard to accomplish hergoals.

“Kayla is definitely one of the top five athletes who have comethrough the gym,” said Meilstrup. “She is easy to work with andworks hard at developing her skills.”

“She is a powerful tumbler,” Meilstrup added. “She is very goodat the tumbling pass.”

For Fisher, the next challenge is MC.